The Alabama-raised Wilson Pickett got his start in church choirs. He toured with The Violinaires before moving to secular music with The Falcons, and his commanding voice and songs soon became a major force in soul music. Pickett recorded many of his early solo hits at Stax Studios with members of The M.G.'s; later, at Muscle Shoals' Fame Studios, he worked with backing musicians like Duane Allman and Bobby Womack, creating a soul-rock hybrid that influenced everyone from The Rolling Stones to The Grateful Dead. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, and he died in 2006.